On-demand furniture for Chinese commuters

Architecture & Design

The Instant Lounge is 3D-printed into different shapes and removed when no longer needed

Spotted: Design collective, UEO, has created the “Instant Lounge” for the 2019/20 Urbanism\Architecture Bi-City Biennale (UABB) of Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Located in the Shenzhen Futian High-Speed railway station, the retractable furniture is 3D-printed on demand. When the station is busy, the machine that houses the printer removes the structure in preparation for a new design.

The printer is suspended from cables attached to the ceiling, and the set-up allows the machine to move across the entirety of the space, in order to create complex shapes. The biodegradable furniture is made from a single rope coiled into a variety of shapes and is designed to last for five years (the usual lifespan of public furniture). The rope is a continuous cotton tube filled with pebbles, seeds, dry fruit pits and other food waste, and so when it is no longer needed, can be composted. Instant Lounge is available until mid-March 2020.

Making public spaces more user-friendly, accessible and a positive environmental contribution is a challenge increasingly addressed by governments in a variety of ways. Springwise has already spotted an urban forest in The Netherlands and smart, solar-powered wooden benches in Hungary.

Takeaway:

As more and more projects, programmes and organisations commit to zero-waste approaches, there may eventually be pockets of truly carbon-neutral, sustainable living and working spaces. The Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance is working towards a reduction in the production of greenhouse gas emissions by 80 to 100 per cent by 2050 or sooner. Connecting those zones could provide interesting, collaborative challenges for policy workers, designers and innovators across all industries.